


Starry Eyed Believer

by kiwigirl



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Dubious Science, Fake Science, Female Friendship, Ficlet Collection, Gen, Jane Foster Loves Science, Jane Foster Week, Past Jane Foster/Thor, Plays fast and loose with canon, Sexism, a moment of terrible irony, discussion of clothes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-21 18:27:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12463392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiwigirl/pseuds/kiwigirl
Summary: A series of ficlets written for Jane Foster Week 2017, originally posted on Tumblr





	1. space

**Author's Note:**

> day 1: space  
> day 2: quote  
> day 3: au  
> day 4: favourite appearance  
> day 5: respect  
> day 6: Thor: Ragnarok  
> day 7: free choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can be found on Tumblr [here](http://backwardsandinhighheels.tumblr.com/post/166697393578)

They say there are two gateway sciences: space and dinosaurs. For Jane Foster, there was never a choice. She’s never liked things with sharp teeth.

Six-month-old Jane bats at the mobile above her cot. It’s expensive but well made, a gift from a great-aunt who has never had children. Stars and planets bounce and sway in the breeze from an open window as Jane sticks one foot inside her mouth and inspects her sky.

Four-year-old Jane sees a shooting star for the very first time from her bedroom window. It’s long past midnight and the house is dark and quiet. The impulse that got her out of bed and tiptoeing across the room has long since vanished. She doesn’t make a wish — her mother has no time to teach her silly superstitions — but she wonders how it would feel to fly.

Seven-year-old Jane can’t wait for winter. Night comes early; the stars are out before bedtime. “Just ten more minutes,” she begs, a constellation map spread over her lap, fingers leaving marks on the breath-fogged window. “The big dipper is almost out.” Sometimes she wins a reprieve; sometimes she doesn’t, and in her dreams, she races point to point across the sky.

Eleven-year-old Jane doesn’t like space. She likes boys and fashion and makeup and all the other things her friends say are normal. She’s not weird. She  _isn’t_. Her books collect dust in the corner of her room.

Fourteen-year-old Jane has had enough of fitting in, of pretending to be ‘normal’. She’s smarter than all the boys in her class; it’s not her fault they can’t do math. She unearths her old books and buys more from the second-hand store with money saved from baby-sitting until her bookshelves overflow. Her so-called friends label her ‘weird’; she finds a new place to sit at lunch. There’s a boy who likes plants and a girl who likes stories: with a book or two apiece, they take up a whole table together and trade interesting facts over sandwiches.

Eighteen-year-old Jane has a scholarship to Culver University and has never felt so excluded. Apparently, girls study  _biology_ , not physics; she wins class hottie four years running but never gets a say in group projects. She wins an internship with Erik Selvig who encourages her to keep studying. First, her Masters, then her Doctorate — her supervisor calls her unconventional but talented, her peers call her a crackpot, but her math is perfect so her conclusions are airtight.

Thirty-year-old Jane is running out of grant money when she spots something in the sky above New Mexico…


	2. quote

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can be found on Tumblr [here](http://backwardsandinhighheels.tumblr.com/post/166740563583/janefosterweek-day-2-quote)
> 
> this is less of a quote that Jane said and more of a quote that I feel might suit her

_"Remember kids, the only difference between Science and screwing around is writing it down"_ ~Adam Savage, Mythbusters

Jane Foster of Stark Industries was proud to say that she was perfectly normal, thank you very much. She wasn’t the last person you’d expect to be involved in anything strange or dangerous. That was Zelenka, down the hall, and he was the most boring person in the building. Nor was she the first person. Her lab was smack bang in the middle for number of ‘incidents’. That made her normal, right?

Today, she was investigating the wormhole-powering potential of caesium at the moment of reaction. Being an astrophysicist rather than a chemist, she had enlisted the help of Calvin from upstairs. He sat only second to Tony Stark on the incident list, but more importantly, he had the best reflexes in R&D.

“Steady,” she called, eyed glued to her screen. “Charging the transmitter now. Ready for the surge in 3… 2… 1…”

The explosion shunted her sideways, lifting her off her feet. She twisted her head to see Calvin flying across the room, away from a glowing ball that flickered once, then vanished.

The ringing in her ears faded to be replaced by alarms, the ones that let everyone know the explosion was from R&D and any fire was contained. Darcy thought it was ridiculous they had so many different alarms, but Darcy was currently visiting her parents and had no say in the day’s activities. That was a good thing because Darcy tended to frown on explosions, even planned ones.

“Calvin?” she called, pulling herself to her feet.

The other scientist bounded to his feet, eyes shining. “That was _awesome._ Didja get what you needed?”

Jane glanced over her readings. “I’m not sure. Did you see the -” she gestured to where the glow had been.

Calvin nodded. “Looked like space, but here?”

Tony stuck his head around the doorway. “What was that?”

“Caesium,” Jane said. “The reaction was a little bigger than expected.”

“How much bigger?” Tony asked, coming into the room. “How big did you expect it to be?”

Jane looked at Calvin - this was his area of expertise, after all. He plucked a pen from behind his ear to scribble on her whiteboard, handing it to Tony to let him add to the mess of equations. “The co-opter reports 2 megajoules,” she told them, watched them add it to the board. “And the interstrander picked up fluctuations in local subspace for about 0.8 seconds that may correlate to an open proto-portal.”

“Only 0.8 seconds?”

She nodded, mind already ticking through the possibilities. “Yeah, and it didn’t seem stable at all. You know what that means?”

Calvin bounced on his toes. Tony raised his voice. “J, we need to make an order. Dr Foster?”

Jane grinned. “We’re going to need more caesium.”


	3. au

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which the author takes MCU canon, comics canon, and a pinch of fanon, and _smushes_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Science!Jane is awesome but I grew up with nurse!Jane and ain't nobody gon' tell me nurses aren't awesome too  
> can be found on Tumblr [here](http://backwardsandinhighheels.tumblr.com/post/166777128323/janefosterweek-day-3-au)

“Jane! You won’t believe what happened!”

Jane scrunched her eyes tighter and buried her face in her pillow. “G’way Darcy,” she muttered.

“You gotta get up in ten minutes anyway,” Darcy insisted. With no reaction from her roommate, she sighed. “Fine.”

Jane sighed in contentment and settled back into her bed, only for her eyes to shoot open as a steaming mug was passed beneath her nose. “Coffee?”

Darcy smirked. “Thought that would work.” She held the mug out of Jane’s grasping fingers. “Nuh-uh, you gotta be sitting up. Spilling coffee in bed in the _worst_.”

Jane manoeuvred herself upright and took the mug greedily. Halfway through chugging it down, she paused. “What were you saying before?”

“She’s awake!” Darcy crowed. “Okay, so. I was walking home after my shift — stop making that face at me, the buses don’t run that late and I’m not paying for a cab — and not three blocks away from the diner, this guy comes looming out of the shadows, and he musta been on something cause he kept asking about a hammer, and he was freaking me out so I tasered him.”

“Oh Darce, you _didn’t._ ”

“Did too, and the guy at 911 said it was self-defence because I felt threatened. So you don’t need to worry about me going to jail or anything.”

“Well, good. I can’t afford rent here on my own and I like this place.”

“Yeah, yeah. Go and get ready for your shift, I’ll do the dishes.”

* * *

“Morning, Jane.”

“Good morning, Corinne. Any new patients?”

“Just a John Doe in room 4. Came in a few hours ago with no ID. Apparently was a bit violent earlier and had to be restrained but has settled in well enough. Mr Christopher checked out and we moved Old Mrs Thomas to Room 10.” Jane nodded, listening carefully. A smooth handover made the entire shift so much easier.

She grabbed the file for the John Doe and headed for Room 4 to introduce herself. “Good morning,” she called, pushing the door open. “I’m Nurse Jane, I’m taking over from Nurse Corinne. Just sing out if you need anything, the call button is right there. Now, I see you came in unconscious due to, uh…” her voice trailed off and she snapped the file shut again. To her surprise, her patient looked rather impressed.

“I had not realised Migardians had mastered lightning,” he rumbled, in an accent that she couldn’t quite place. “Is it common here?”

“Not really,” Jane admitted, as she checked his blood pressure (elevated) and his pupils (dilated). “I don’t think they’re legal in all the States.”

“Then the woman who felled me is impressive indeed. Would that I could make her acquaintance properly.”

Jane paused, trying to parse his archaic wording. He must have learnt English from a really old book. “You want to meet her? Why?”

“I could do with her assistance. I need to retrieve my hammer.”

“You a builder, then?”

He scoffed. “A builder? No, I am Thor, Prince of Asgard.”

Jane smiled politely and added a note to his file. “That’s nice. Mrs Thomas across the hall tells us she’s the Queen of Sheba.”

You really did meet the oddest people when working at the hospital.


	4. favourite appearance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> because I'm a sucker for pretty clothes - but this one was _hard_  
>  can be found on Tumblr [here](http://backwardsandinhighheels.tumblr.com/post/166810587543/janefosterweek-day-4-favourite-appearance-jane)

Jane rubbed her arms. “I feel so exposed.”

Frigga smiled gently. “It suits you. Your usual attire is different?”

‘Something like that,” Jane muttered. “You saw the clothes I arrived in?”

“Indeed, though they had suffered much damage. Apparently the healers were scandalised.”

“What? Why? Because it’s not a dress?”

“No, because your attire was akin to that of a warrior, designed to give ease of movement.”

“Sif’s a warrior,” Jane protested hotly, only to be cut off by Frigga’s laugh.

“She is, and her armour is specially constructed. The healers were distressed that your attire had no such protection.”

“Oh. Yeah, I don’t normally need actual armour.” Instead, she had her layers, protection against those who saw an attractive woman and ignored her brain. She found other scientists took her more seriously when she was dressed like them. Besides, it was more comfortable.

“You will note that they have tried to add some armour to your current outfit, though it is lighter than an Asgardian would wear.”

 Jane supposed the presumption of weakness should rankle, but she was struck by a thought. “Are you wearing armour too?”

“No. I am the Queen in my own palace. If I require armour, then something will have gone terribly wrong.”

Jane felt the Aether pulse beneath her skin, a second heartbeat. “Yeah, that makes sense. Okay, I’m ready to go.”

Side by side, scientist and queen left the courtyard.


	5. respect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can be found on Tumblr [here](http://backwardsandinhighheels.tumblr.com/post/166843141098/janefosterday5-respect)

“And this is Jane Foster, my intern for the summer.”

“Bit of a looker, isn’t she?” chortled Dr Richards. “Selvig, you old dog!”

Jane flushed, pasting a smile on. “Please to meet you,” she lied. “Your work on astrophysics is among the top in the field,” she added more truthfully. She’d based several projects on his research and had been so excited to finally meet him in person.

“Always nice to meet a fan,” he smiled. “Jean, wasn’t it?”

* * *

“I can’t believe she got to meet Reed Richards! How’d she pull that one off?”

Jane focused on her notes, her ears burning. Her classmates didn’t seem to realise how well sound carried in the quiet lecture theatre.

“Dude, she’s Jane _Foster_. Her dad’s Dr Foster who teaches PHYS493. Of _course_ she’d get the best internship.”

Nepotism - lovely. No matter that she set the curve on every test. Next thing you know, they’d be accusing her of sleeping with the faculty. She gathered her notes and brushed past them, making sure to memorise their faces as she left. She learnt better from books anyway.

* * *

“Miss Foster, are you sure that postgraduate study is right for you?”

Jane stared her course adviser down. “I have the best grades in my class and recommendations from half the teaching faculty. Three of them have offered to be my supervisor. Why are we having this conversation?”

“Well, academia can be a very stressful -”

“If I were male, would you be asking me this? I overheard Jeffrey talking about you begging him to do postgrad and he still has trouble with basic transversals.”

“I, uh, cannot discuss another student’s situation with you.”

“That’s fine, I don’t really wanna discuss him with you either. Just sign the damn paperwork.”

Scowling, he did as she asked. “Not very ladylike, are you?”

She didn’t bother to grace that with an answer.

* * *

“Honey, can you get me a refill? Milk, no sugar.”

Jane stared at the cup in her hands before pushing it back on its owner. He looked into it as if mystified that it was still empty. “I think you’ve made a mistake. I’m not one of the wait staff.”

“No?”

“My name is Jane Foster, I’m-”

“Oh, the wormhole chick. Yeah, I’ve heard about you.”

“Really?” Jane’s learnt not to get her hopes up.

“Yeah, can’t work out how you still manage to get funding. Wormholes are science fiction, babe.”

 “So were cell phones,” she snapped, wishing she had gotten some coffee so she could throw it in his face.

* * *

“Dr Foster, please sign here.”

“Those are my machines!” she cried, ignoring the bland man in the nice suit. “That’s my life’s work you’re manhandling.”

“And you’ll get it back eventually,” he assured her. “Just sign here so we know who to return it to.”

“You confiscate a lot of people’s life’s work?” she snapped. “I’m on the verge of a major breakthrough!”

He seemed genuinely regretful, which only made her angrier. “We’ll be in contact, Dr Foster. Have a nice day.”

* * *

“Dr Foster? I heard you were working with Tony Stark and I was wondering-”

Jane turned on one heel to look up at the man scurrying beside her. “Jeffrey, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, and I was hoping-”

“Nope.”

“But-”

She stopped, folded her arms across her chest. “You were wanting a position, weren’t you?”

“Yes, and-”

“Answer’s still no. You want a job, you go through the normal recruitment channels. You don’t get to leverage you copying over my shoulder fifteen years ago.” She turned to stalk off, leaving a dejected Jeffrey in her wake.

“Bitch,” he muttered.

She waggled her fingers in an approximation of a wave. “And don’t you forget it!”

* * *

“Is it true you won a Nobel prize for science?”

Jane bent down to put her at eye level with the speaker. “It is. I have Nobel prize for physics. Why do you ask?”

“Because I said you did and my brother said girls aren’t good at science so you couldn’t have.”

“Your brother is wrong.”

The little girl nodded solemnly. “I thought so.”

“Are you good at science?” Jane asked.

A smile split the girl’s face. “Yeah. My brother’s just mad because I set his curtains on fire.”

Jane felt an answering smile spread across her own face. “That sounds like fun.”

“It was. I got in sooo much trouble, I almost wasn’t allowed to come meet you. Can I get an autograph?”

“Of course! What’s your name?”

“It’s Gabby.”

“Okay, Gabby. What do you want me to write?”

“Something clever,” Gabby requested. “So I can win a Nobel prize too.”

“I look forward to it,” Jane said, scribbling a message and trying extra hard to make it legible. “Here you go.”

 

_Dear Gabby,_

_Girls can do science just as well as boys. If they’re mad, it’s because they’re jealous. Don’t ever make yourself small to fit into other people’s ideas of what you should be and keep having fun with science!_

_All the best,_

_Nobel Laureate Jane Foster_


	6. Thor: Ragnarok

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I haven’t seen Ragnarok yet and this is based on trailers and discussion with a friend. Possible spoilers for the first 15 minutes of the movie  
> can be found on Tumblr [here](http://backwardsandinhighheels.tumblr.com/post/166875748543/janefosterweek-day-6-jane-in-thor-ragnarok)

Jane opened her eyes. For a second, she had no idea where she was. It certainly wasn’t her bedroom or her lab, the two places she generally woke up in. Rubbing a hand over her face, it took her a second to remember she was in Europe.

The last time she was on this continent, SHIELD had manufactured a research position in Tromso to keep her out of the way. It was odd, being here of her own volition, rather than as Thor’s — whatever they were. Or rather, what they had been. His admiration didn’t make up for his all too frequent absences and they had ended things amicably, as far as these things go.

And yet, here she was, taking time off her plush research position to meet her ex. Checking the ancient analogue clock on the bedside table, she swore quietly. She was late — that was what she got for making a morning appointment. She had no idea why he needed her help, but it seemed urgent. Stuffing her latest research in her bag, she quickly checked out and jumped into her rental car. The GPS coordinates she’d been sent weren’t too far, though she had to continue on foot once the road ran out.

Huffing and puffing up the hill, she reached the top just in time to see a woman in a spiky black headdress  _catch_  Mjolnir. From the look on Thor’s face, he hadn’t expected that either. Mjolnir started glowing, and it wasn’t that good type of glowing, either. Jane groped around in her bag for something to throw. Her fingers closed around something small and metallic and without thinking, she pulled it out and threw it at the woman in black.

Hand-eye coordination had never been her strong point, which was why it was such a surprise when it actually connected. The woman barely had time to flinch before the device vanished with a soft  _thwump_ , taking her with it. Mjolnir was left hanging in midair, the glow fading.

The look on Thor’s face was comical. “What did you do?” he demanded, calling Mjolnir back to him with a flick of the wrist.

“Portable wormhole generator,” she told him. “Still haven’t managed to keep it open longer than initial activation. Who was that?”

“Uh, Hela.”

“The Goddess of Death?”

“That is indeed what she called herself. How-”

“If you think I didn’t research Norse mythology after your first visit, you’re mistaken.”

“Ah, of course. It seems as if I’m once more in your debt. Do you know where the wormhole led?”

“Nope, but I’m sure Heimdall could tell you. He sees everything, right?”

“Well…”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” She waved a hand in dismissal. “Is this why you wanted to meet? I skipped breakfast for this and I promised Darcy I’d actually try and eat.” She didn’t wait for an answer, turning to make her way back down. Halfway down, she began to swear.

“My — Jane, what troubles you?”

“That was my best prototype. Do you know how long it took for me to make that?”

“No?”

“Too long, that’s how long. Ugh. Are you coming or what? I want pancakes.”


	7. free choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster, Nobel Laureate. Now what?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can be found on Tumblr [here](http://backwardsandinhighheels.tumblr.com/post/166905060983/janefosterweek-day-7-free-choice)

Jane didn’t feel any different.

Growing up, a Nobel Prize seemed unattainable, something awarded to dusty old men who worked at Oxford or Cambridge. She’d allowed herself to dream, now and then, when the taunts and sneers got unbearable, but even the dream had faded under the weight of reality. Then came New Mexico, and Thor, and she’d heard but barely believed the whispers that swirled in her wake.

Last night had been the pinnacle of everything she’d worked for.  She’d rubbed shoulders with her heroes and been added to their number. Men who had once looked down on her bit their tongues and offered up their congratulations. But she didn’t feel any different.

 _Perhaps it’s because there’s still so much to learn,_ she wondered. _Nobel one night and back at work the next morning._ If she was honest, her research had uncovered more questions than answers, a hunt that would keep physicists busy for years to come.

Consumed in her own thoughts, she opened the door to her lab and stopped dead.

“Congratulations,” they cried in unison, draped over benchtops and a proliferation of office chairs. Someone had strung banner from the vents and her machines had been pushed to the sides of the room.

“I- what are you all doing here?”

“We’re celebrating, silly.” Darcy made a face. “What, you thought today would just be science as normal?”

"Well..."

Maria set off a party popper as Helen clamped her hands over her ears, laughing. Pepper passed around champagne flutes, looking utterly incongruous in a tacky party hat. Betty came over to give her a hug, murmuring “Culver represent!” in her ear.

“Make way,” Darcy hollered, scooting forward as the women around her stepped out of the way. She held a cake decorated like the golden Nobel coin but with Jane’s own face in profile.

Natasha passed her a knife, hilt-first. “You get the first cut.”

She made a small cut and Nat took the knife back, expertly dividing the cake into pieces. Helen stood nearby with a stack of serviettes, ready to hand slices out. Maria rolled a chair towards Jane and she dropped into it, making a couple of spins for good measure.

Pepper gave her a glass as Helen pressed a piece of cake into her other hand.

“To Jane!” Betty called, raising her own glass. “Our very own Nobel Laureate!”

“To Jane!” everyone chorused.

Draining her own glass, Jane sneaked a look at her spectrometer. Someone — probably Darcy — had taped a ‘science-free day’ sign over the screen. She shrugged and leaned back. Science would always be there for her, but today? Today was a day to spend with her friends and that was different enough for her.


End file.
